Wizard: I Have a Cultivation System-Chapter 58: Heaven and Earth Qi

Normally, following the standard cultivation speed of Breathing and Guiding, opening all the Floating Meridians in one’s body would take an incredibly long time.

The first twenty percent of the Floating Meridians would take two years to open. The next twenty percent would take four years, the following twenty percent eight years, the next sixteen, and the final twenty percent would require a staggering thirty-two years.

A total of sixty-two years were needed to reach the state of Perfection, with all the meridians throughout the body fully opened.

The reason was that as the Floating Meridians were opened, the subsequent ones became smaller and more obscure.

The flow of "Qi" within these minuscule Floating Meridians was like water flowing through pipes at different elevations; the higher the elevation, the lower the water pressure, and the more difficult the flow.

One had to rely on years of continuous circulation to slowly widen these most minuscule and obscure channels.

However, at this moment, as the Black Light circulated along with the "Qi" through his Floating Meridians, the speed of his cultivation underwent a qualitative change.

The speed at which the "Qi" widened the Floating Meridians accelerated significantly, as if extra pressure had been applied to the higher-level pipes from the earlier analogy.

No!

It wasn’t simply added pressure. It was nourishment.

It was like the way the human body requires specific nutrients for growth and development. The body can synthesize these substances on its own, but the process is slow and far less efficient than absorbing them directly from the outside world.

The Black Light provided a special kind of nourishment that expanded the Floating Meridians. It allowed them to bypass the slow process where "Qi" circulation would normally synthesize this nourishment. Instead, the Floating Meridians could absorb it directly, drastically shortening the time needed to widen them.

By a rough estimate, it had at least doubled his cultivation speed.

Murphy couldn’t help but wonder. ’What exactly is this mysterious Black Light?’

’Could it be the "Heaven and Earth Qi" mentioned in Breathing and Guiding?’

According to the knowledge within Breathing and Guiding, the world was filled with all sorts of different "Qi."

For example, there were the Six Celestial Qi: Taichu Pure Qi, Taiyang Flame Qi, Taiyin Cold Qi, Shaoyang Warm Qi, Shaoyin Cool Qi, and Central Peaceful Qi. There were also the Six Earthly Qi: Thick Earth Pure Qi, Metal and Stone Sharp Qi, Flowing Water Moisture Qi, the Vitality of Plants and Trees, Fiery Drying Qi, and Wetland Moisture.

There were also the Four Seasons Qi, the Five Elements Qi, the Eight Directions Qi, and so on—all sorts of different "Qi."

This Heaven and Earth Qi could be "consumed" by a cultivator, a process known as "Qi Eating."

The "Qi Eating" in the phrase "Those who eat Qi become divine and long-lived" refers to this very process of consuming Heaven and Earth Qi.

And those cultivators who could directly draw upon Heaven and Earth Qi were often able to attain long lifespans.

Naturally, Murphy’s Breathing and Guiding had only reached the Initial Glimpse level, so it was impossible for him to have mastered such a profound Qi Eating technique.

However, the appearance of the Black Light had inadvertently opened a path for him to practice Qi Eating.

It was like when his Horse Trainer skill was only at the Initial Glimpse level; he had still been able to continuously improve his horse-rearing techniques through communication and practice with other grooms.

Even so, a doubt lingered in Murphy’s mind. ’If this Black Light is truly some form of Heaven and Earth Qi, why does it seem to originate from my own mind?’

When he channeled the Black Light, it clearly consumed Spiritual Power, and when his Spiritual Power was insufficient, the Black Light would not manifest.

’It feels as if I’ve become the source of this special power.’

Of course, Murphy didn’t dwell on this question. He knew that in the future, once he obtained more profound knowledge of Breathing and Guiding, these doubts would be resolved.

For now, Murphy was more concerned about a hidden danger the Black Light presented.

As the source of the Black Light, and as it delved deeper into his meridians, he could feel his own aura undergoing a subtle change.

The knowledge from Breathing and Guiding told him that all things in existence emanated a unique aura fluctuation, just as every person has unique fingerprints.

It was just that under normal circumstances, ordinary people lacked sufficient Spiritual Power and could only rely on vague feelings—such as a person’s disposition—to discern their aura.

Even if one had enough Spiritual Power to perceive auras, without the corresponding knowledge of how to interpret them, their ability to identify these auras would be worlds apart.

It was like someone who knew nothing about horses being completely unable to distinguish a horse’s sex, breed, lineage, or place of origin.

Auras were the same. Some people could only perceive a blurry, standard-definition outline. Others could see the basic features in high-definition. Only those who were truly proficient could achieve the insightful perception of Blu-ray quality.

This was precisely why Murphy was able to perceive a horse’s emotions with his Spiritual Power after obtaining Horse Trainer: Ascending the Hall and Entering the Room.

The Entering the Hall level taught him how to "interpret" the aura fluctuations emitted by horses, allowing him to perceive their joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness with "Blu-ray" level clarity.

But it didn’t work on humans.

Without the relevant knowledge for interpreting human auras, Murphy could only use his Spiritual Power to lock onto a person’s presence.

As for anything else, like perceiving emotions from afar without seeing them, or accurately identifying a specific person’s aura from a great distance—that was completely impossible.

But Bishop Alberto, as a member of the Church Court who specialized in dealing with Witches, surely possessed knowledge on how to interpret auras related to the Black Light.

Someone like him would likely be sensitive to the aura of the Black Light, even from a great distance.

At close range, he might even be able to directly detect the traces of the Black Light mixed into Murphy’s aura.

Of course, Murphy was not without a countermeasure.

Breathing and Guiding itself contained a method to adjust one’s disposition—or more accurately, to alter one’s aura—through specific "breathing" rhythms.

This was the basis of Murphy’s confidence in completing Option Two; he was staying in the stables because he was reasonably sure he could handle an inspection from Bishop Alberto.

HUUUH!

Murphy exhaled slowly, rising from his meditative state and ending this round of cultivation.

Following his daily routine, it was time to give Red Leaf fresh water.

Just as he was walking toward the stables, a familiar surge of Energy Fluctuations once again caught his attention.

With his current level of Spiritual Power and his familiarity with the Black Light, Murphy could clearly sense another source of the Black Light’s power in the stables besides himself.

This power was hidden within the ubiquitous water troughs in the stables. It shared the same origin as his Black Light, yet it seemed much denser and purer.

Standing by the water trough, Murphy sensed that he could absorb this power with his Spiritual Power.

He knew this would undoubtedly strengthen the Black Light within him and perhaps even increase his cultivation speed further.

The moment this thought surfaced, Murphy immediately dismissed it.

’Rashly absorbing the dark power from the water troughs would accelerate my cultivation in the short term, but it would also inevitably make the change in my aura far more pronounced. At that point, even if I used the breathing techniques from Breathing and Guiding to adjust my aura, it would probably be impossible to conceal such a drastic change. Without completing Option Two, recklessly absorbing this power would be an extremely dangerous choice.’

Murphy focused his mind, concentrating on adding fresh water for Red Leaf and completely suppressing the tempting thought.

...

The next morning, as Murphy was putting hay in the stables for Red Leaf, he heard Arthur’s familiar voice calling from outside.

"Murphy, get ready."

"We’re going to the Black Wood Forest Outpost on patrol. This time, we expect to be gone for ten days."